The Price of Love I
by JaydenNara
Summary: Two friends are sent on a fake mission to stop their fighting after a accidental encounter, but Shikamaru and Kiba are attacked leaving Shikamaru worse for wear. Emotional damaged, Shikamaru tries to heal and only Kiba can help him through it.Being redone
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: Obviously I don't own Naruto, or any of its characters. The plot of this story however, is my own.**

**As you know, this was my first story. While I do have the sequel in the works after many of you demanded it, I decided I couldn't leave this story be as it was. The writing was childish and poorly done, therefore I'm redoing it.**

**This is a Prologue I created. I took the first two chapters, ripped them apart, and created a prologue and a new chapter one. I will slowly begin updating the chapters when I have a chance. Hope you enjoy.**

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**Prologue**

It was a warm sunny afternoon in the village hidden in the leaves, where Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha`s number one knucklehead ninja, sat in a large leafy tree. He watched the sun shimmer on the surface of the clear lake a short distance away.

For the first time in two and a half years, the blond was relaxing and enjoying himself after his time away training, though he couldn't help but feel a little out of sorts at being so idle for so long.

He perked up at the sound of two familiar voices approaching below, and glanced down at the path winding through the trees directly beneath him. As the voices drew closer, he could easily distinguish the chatter to be two of his good friends and comrades, Inuzuka Kiba, and Nara Shikamaru. The last news Naruto had heard was that both shinobi were on a mission to Suna, but it seemed they were back early.

The two friends were walking along peaceably, chatting away, unaware of the spy hidden above them.

Suddenly, Kiba's ninken, Akamaru, veered in front of his master startling the ninja and causing the young chunin to trip, stumbling into his friend. Completely oblivious to the awkward situation he had just caused, the canine continued his merry chase, his jaws snapping playfully at a poor, helpless butterfly.

Shikamaru was the unlucky one to land on his back, his breath forced from his lungs as he hit the hard dirt road.

Flailing wildly, Kiba tried desperately to steady himself, but unfortunately was unable to prevent the inevitable as he fell on the Nara. His attempts were not completely in vain, as he managed to prevent any injury as he fell on the younger boy.

The shadow nin found himself in an awkward position, sprawled flat on his back, legs slightly apart, and palms flat on the ground. He stared wide eyes at the Inuzuka straddling his slender hips, their groins pressed uncomfortably against each other.

One of the dog nin's hands was resting beside the raven's head, propping his body up slightly on an elbow. The other tanned hand was on Shikamaru's chest, wedged between the two warm bodies.

With their noses almost touching, they gazed into each other eyes, their own shock reflected back. Both teens could feel the warm breath of the other caress their face as they continued to stare in embarrassment, cheeks slightly flushed.

"Ah, heh," Kiba smirked, finally breaking the awkward silence that had settle over them. "You don't want a date first, eh, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru scowled up at his friend. "Just get off me," he muttered, shoving at the hard chest.

Kiba shifted, intent on following the others' request, but that came to a grinding halt as they both gasped and froze. A sudden shiver of pleasure ran through their bodies as quickly rising erections came into contact, the hardened lengths grinding together.

Licking his dry lips, the dog nin stared hungrily down at his captive. The shock wore off rather quickly as the feral teen took a deep breath through his highly sensitive nose. Much to his surprise, he could smell the arousal on his friend as he lowered his head to Shikamaru's pale throat and inhaled deeply. The sweet musk was rolling off his body in waves and the Inuzuka found it intoxicating.

Shikamaru's eyes widened in horror as the elder boy leaned forward and smelled him. He could tell by the glazed over look in his friends eyes, that the animal in the Inuzuka was taking over. He struggled to push the boy off, but Kiba pressed harder against him, causing the both of them to groan again. Dark eyes rolled back as the Nara tried to process what was going on and formulate a plan of action.

Kiba's head came down again, his tongue running down the struggling teens jaw, tasting the salty skin of the Nara. He moaned in Shikamaru's ear, the action sending shivers down the lazy nin's spine. The Inuzuka could taste his partners need and want, and while Kiba had been with his fair share of bed partners, he had never found one he truly wanted, or one that wanted him just as bad. As instincts clouded his mind, the brunette pushed forward, intent on not letting this opportunity pass him by.

Shikamaru flailed, but the tracker didn't budge. "Shit! Kiba, snap out of it!" the normally laidback nin cried desperately. He couldn't believe he was in this situation, Kiba wasn't in his right mind anymore, and the Nara had to find a way to free himself before something happened that they would both regret. It was an extremely awkward position to be in, especially with a very close friend. With every ounce of strength he had, he shoved his friend away from his body and screamed. "Get the hell off of me you stupid troublesome mutt! What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Kiba snapped out of his daze, slowly blinking as awareness crept into his mind. He saw the terror in his friend's chocolate brown eyes, and realized what had been about to happen. He rolled off Shikamaru, his face reddening. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean... I couldn't... I-I-I..." he stuttered as he lay in the dirt, struggling to understand the feelings and the meaning behind what had just taken place.

"You stupid dog! What the hell were you doing?" The Nara was just as red as the dog nin, and could still feel his erection straining against the rough material of his pants. With a quick glance over at the panting Kiba, he could clearly see the large bulge of his friends pants proving his theory that the other boy was just as bad off as him.

"It's not my fault!" Kiba growled. "You should have pushed me off sooner!" He sat up and turned away from the teen still lying on the forest path.

"How!" the raven snapped. "You were pinning me down!"

"I couldn't help it; I could smell that you were aroused!" the Inuzuka yelled turning back and pointing an accusing finger at the lazy nin. "You wanted me!" What truly scared the teen though, was that he wanted the Nara just as much.

"I did not, so just stay away from me!"

"Gladly!" Kiba leapt to his feet, and stalked off, leaving Shikamaru to sort through his own muddled thoughts and feelings. "Get back here Akamaru," the brunette called angrily into the surrounding woods. "We're leaving, now!"

Naruto scratched his head as he watched his two friends stalking off in opposite directions. Out of everything he had ever witnessed, that was definitely one of the stranger occurrences.

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**Well? How was that? Better? I think so. I took it out of the first chapter, and turned it into the prologue instead of being a flashback. **

**Please review and let me know if have succeeded in making this better.**


	2. Pride and Punishment

**Well, here is the recently rewritten first chapter. It is a combination of chapters one and two, minus the flashback. Hope you enjoy.**

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**Chapter One**

**Pride and Punishment**

"Hey baa-chan!" Naruto yelled as he burst into her office at full speed, and skidded to a stop two feet from her desk.

The kitsune had returned from his years of training with Jiraiya just over a month ago, and was bugging the fifth daily. More than anything, the teen wanted to go after his best friend and rival. In the month or so he had been home, the newly reformed team seven had only tried once, and failed miserably. The only consolation was that Naruto had been able to see the missing raven, and ascertain that Orochimaru had not yet taken over his friends' body.

The Hokage jumped to her feet, palms hitting the desk so hard papers went flying as the structure shuddered and groaned under the impact. "Don't call me that you little brat!" she growled, her eyes narrowed, teeth clenched. As much as she loved the loud mischievous teen who constantly reminded her of her late brother, he defiantly knew how to push her buttons. It had only been two hours since he had last bothered her, and she couldn't fathom what he could possibly want now.

Naruto took a step back in shock from the deadly glare he was receiving from his elder. The blond women in front of him could be damn scary at times. He scratched the back of his head with one hand, looking up at her with a sheepish grin on his face. If he didn't know better, he would have believed the woman was close to killing him, but took comfort in the fact that she had a soft spot for him. He started laughing hysterically, doubling over, and clutching his stomach.

"Well, what do you want?" she fumed as she sat down again, leaning forward slightly on the desk, watching the young teen rolling around on the floor. "If this is about going after Sauske again, forget it. I've already said no twice today." Her finger nails clicked impatiently on the wood. It would be oh so easy for her to toss the brat out the window and dust off her hands as if nothing had happened.

"It's not..." Naruto gasped out, struggling to regain his breath. Tsunade's mouth fell open in surprise as the young nin continued. "I've asked you, uh, how many times now... forty eight?" He scratched his head again. "Does that sound right? Maybe more, no, it's got to be less, no, crap! Gah, I don't know!" He was babbling to himself now, trying to count on his fingers, then losing count and starting over.

The sannin stared at the young teen as if he had grown two heads. "Baka," she muttered to herself before yelling at the boy. "Naruto!" Her impatience seeped into her voice. "Get on with it already or get the hell out! I'm extremely busy, and I don't have time to listen to you natter on incessantly about absolutely nothing!" Though it did beat the hell out of the endless paperwork that seemed to appear on her desk and never leave.

The genin grinned broadly. "You need to send Kiba and Shikamaru on a really long mission," he announced happily. "Alone."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow in response to the new request.

"They've been at each others' throats; it's nothing but yelling, and screaming," he explained quickly when she didn't respond. "They haven't been able to go near each other for the last month without getting in a fight. Not to mention dragging everyone else into it. It's driving everyone insane!" the blond exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "My team, their teams, even bushy brows team." He sucked in a large breath then ranted on. "They use to be best friends! Chouji, Shikamaru, Kiba, and I hung out at the academy. We never fought; mind you we mostly skipped class and drove Iruka-sensei mad." The blonde boy scratched his head and giggled at the memory, then sobered again, "but now... well, they are everyday, even several times a day!" His mind drifted back to the day at the lake where the whole situation reared its head.

The fighting seemed to come out of nowhere, starting rather suddenly. No one knew the reason for the sudden argumentative state of the two friends, all except Naruto that is, but he wouldn't tell a soul, not even the Hokage herself. To him, it was private, and only the two of them could work it out on their own, but it seemed that they might need a bit of a push in the right direction. The Uzumaki was determined to provide that push and had spent the last few days formulating a plan.

Tsunade frowned at the troubling news, and watched the teen that seemed to be lost in thought. She needed to gauge the depth of the situation; she couldn't afford problems like this in the village. There couldn't be disruptions in the delicate friendships of the nine rookies, and team Gai, not at a time of such unease. They were the future of the village and there was already too much unrest in the uncertain times. The last thing they needed was picking sides.

"I need to see it myself," Tsunade finally said. "Can you get all your friends out tonight in one place so I can observe? Have everyone go out for BBQ or something?" Observing the group would normally be the best option, but it was also an excuse for her to get out of the office and drink sake without Shizune lecturing her over her shoulder.

"Uh, yeah, I think so..."

"You really think a mission alone would fix it?" the older blond said before pausing."If it's as bad as you say," she continued. "They might end up killing each other." She smirked at him, doubting the severity of the problem at hand.

Naruto tilted his head slightly and seriously pondered her words for a moment. "Nah," he said, shaking his head. "They would never do that. They're best friends whether they act like it or not. I'm pretty sure they just need to work through their issues in a one on one setting, but far away from the general populace. You'll see tonight." With that said, he ran out the door without a backwards glance to the confused Hokage.

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"We're still missing Ino, and Shikamaru," commented Neji as he looked around at the crowded table. The group hadn't gathered in awhile as it always seemed to end badly. Neji glanced down the table at reason number one, Kiba.

"Pffft... he's probably staring at clouds again, the lazy ass," Kiba scoffed.

"At least I'm not constantly stopping to look in every mirror I pass." The retort came from behind Ino as her and Shikamaru walked in. The shadow nin lazily glared at the brunette as he took a seat.

"I'll have you know, I hardly ever look in a mirror."

"Not something to be proud of, it shows. When was the last time you brushed your hair, or your teeth for that matter?"

"Shut it baka," the brunette hissed. "You just contradicted your first so called comeback. Aren't you suppose t be a genius?" he spat, his slitted eyes roving over the shadow user, searching for the next object of ridicule. "And at least I don't look like I have a pineapple on my head."

Everyone froze in place, afraid to get involved again. They could only watch in horror as the arguing grew worse, and insults rapidly increased in severity.

Chouji frowned at his friend and teammate. Naruto had promised that this time it would be different; most had assumed it meant the fighting had stopped.

Kiba jumped to his feet, Shikamaru followed suit as they glared daggers. They continued to yell and scream at each other across the table, pointing fingers, and making rude gestures. While it wasn't odd to see Kiba worked up over something, being able to rile up the Nara was a feat to be proud of, but not at the expense of friends.

"K-k-kiba-kun," Hinata gently tugged on his jacket sleeve, "p-please s-s-stop."

The dog nins arm accidently connected with her head as she distracted him, knocking her over. He barely glanced at his timid teammate, still yelling at Shikamaru, now about what he had caused him to do.

"HEY! What the HELL is your problem!" Naruto was now on his feet. "You just sent your teammate flying, and you haven't even stopped to apologize!" This was the first time anyone had been hurt in the crossfire, meaning everything had just been taken to the next level.

The dog nin snarled at the blonde. "Stay out of this moron!"

The entire table erupted. Plates and cups went flying. Everyone one was yelling. Chouji was struggling to keep the flailing dog nin in a headlock. Shino had Shikamaru by the collar, the other fist pulling back to strike, but was quickly caught in the Shikamaru's shadow jutsu. Sakura went to help Hinata, only to be knocked over by someone being pushed into her.

As chaos ensued the fifth sighed, and dropped her head into her hands. She was in a state of disbelief. _'_They are absolutely unbelievable. She hadn't realized that Naruto really meant everything he had said. If anything, she had thought the blond had been exaggerating a bit, but this – this was ten times worse than anything she could have imagined.

Suddenly, she was on her feet and across the room, grabbing them by the scruff of their necks and throwing them. "Enough!" the Hokage yelled, her voice almost shaking with the rage that pulsed through her. An ugly snarl marred her usually beautiful face. "All of you go home now! I have never been more ashamed of any of my ninjas!"

They all slunk out slowly, thoroughly disgusted with themselves.

"So much for not getting pulled into their squabble," muttered Tenten, even though she had seen it coming.

"Here, here," Lee sighed. No matter what, they just could seem to get along. At one point, Maito Gai had exclaimed to his team that there was inner turmoil that had remained unresolved for too for far too long. Of course Lee had pronounced his beloved sensei a genius.

"Well, Naruto was right though," Ino said, looking over. "This time was different." It seemed obvious that the blond had gone to Lady Tsunade, or at least made sure she was going to be her before setting up the dinner. The first seemed more likely seeing as most didn't believe Naruto to be that clever'

"Nara! Inuzuka!" Everyone's head turned at the sound of the Hokage's voice. "My office, 7 o'clock! Do not be late, or else..." Tsunade's voice trailed off, letting the two angry teens fill in the threat on their own. She sank back down into her own booth again, cursing the youth, as she watched the large group file out. She downed her sake straight from the bottle.

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Shikamaru sat on the floor, hands behind his head, leaning back on the wall across from the Hokage's office doors. He was relieved Kiba hadn't shown yet, and was hoping the teen wouldn't show at all. "Troublesome mutt," he muttered to himself. "This is his fault. None of this would be happening if he had controlled himself at the lake." Shikamaru sighed as he recalled what a pain in the ass the two had been to everyone over the last little while. He assumed they were driving everyone absolutely insane with their inane fights.

The Nara's thoughts were interrupted by a low booming bark as Akamaru came barrelling around the corner. The giant dog pounced on him, and immediately started licking the startled shinobi in a over exuberant greeting.

Shikamaru started shouting at his so called friend who was now casually leaning against the corner the canine had just appeared from. "Get your troublesome mutt off me!"

Kiba watched his faithful companion attacking the senior shinobi with affection. "Why? I think he misses you," the dog nin smirked.

"And whose fault is that?"

"Yours"

"Mine? How on earth is it mine?" Shikamaru was struggling to keep the massive body of fur at bay. "I seem to remember this being your doing."

"Jeez, you're the one who started ig..."

He was cut off by the door being flung open violently. The Hokage snarled. "Both of you get your asses in here before I kick them across the village!"

Akamaru halted his attack on Shikamaru, the nervous dog's tail going between his legs. The two teens exchanged worried glances. An already angry Hokage first thing in the morning was not a good sign.

Shikamaru heaved himself to his feet, and strode into the office. He was determined to face his punishment with dignity, after all, he did deserve whatever was thrown at him. They'd caused enough trouble.

"I think we're in big trouble Akamaru," Kiba whispered to his partner, and patted the dog awkwardly. He followed Shikamaru in, shuffling his feet as he moved.

Tsunade was seated behind her desk again, her face livid. Clenched fists rested on the desk, and the Hokage leaned forward on her arms. "I have a mission for you," she said, glaring at the two shinobi. "Do you think you can handle it?" she mocked.

Kiba cringed; he wasn't use to seeing this side of his leader. Usually her anger was reserved for his knuckle head blonde friend. He nodded slowly.

"Yes M'lady," came Shikamaru's quiet reply as he looked down, ashamed. "We will not fail you."

"Good. Shizune!"

Shizune crept forward and handed each boy a scroll each containing the mission details. She then quickly retreated back to the corner, trying to stay out of the line of fire. Getting caught in the middle wouldn't bode well for anyone.

"Reconnaissance!" Shikamaru almost shouted, his eyes snapping up to meet the golden gaze of the Hokage. "B-b-but this mission will take over a month to complete! You're asking us to go through every ninja village!" The Nara's eyes were wide as he stared at the fifth in disbelief. "We can't do this on our own; we need a team of at least four, maybe five!"

"No," the blond interjected. "I will only be sending the two of you, and I think you know why."

Shikamaru watched his friend out of the corner of his eye. Kiba had been uncharacteristically silent. They both knew what was going on. Someone had complained, or merely enlightened the Hokage of their constant feuding.

The dog nin opened his mouth for the first time since entering the office, and then promptly shut it. He was shocked that they're friends had gone this far. He was under the assumption that this was their friends doing, no one else would have gone out of their way to straighten them out.

"Kiba?"

"Ahhh... well," Kiba scratched his head nervously. "I guess, eh, when do we leave?"

"Immediately!"

"What!" Both boys stared open mouthed at their leader.

"How can we leave right now?" Kiba was almost yelling, "We haven't had time to pack or prepare."

The platinum blond clutched her throbbing head, regretting the amount of sake she had drunk the night before. It was too early to be dealing with this as well as a hangover, and the Inuzuka was loud. "It's all been taken care of thanks to your concerned friends," she said hurriedly, trying to get them out of there as fast as humanly possible. "Shikamaru, Chouji has your pack, and Kiba, Shino has yours. Everything you need should be ready, and they will meet you at the front gate in ten minutes."

Kiba turned and stormed out of the office, Akamaru at his heels. Shikamaru watched his friend leave, and with a quick nod to the Godaime, hurried after the enraged brunette.

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune said finding her voice, "Do you think this is a good idea? We don't even know what is causing friction between the two. The whole situation could blow up in our faces."

"No. It'll be fine." Tsunade stared at the empty door for a moment. "Naruto seems to know the deeper meaning behind the out bursts, and he came up with the whole plan. There was definitely more than met the eye in this situation, and definitely more than the Uzumaki was letting on. It was clear the young blond shinobi knew what was going on, and where the underlying issue lay, but he wasn't talking. The Godaime was cursing the teens morals. "I trust things will be fine," she mumbled, hoping she was right.

"For the sake of the village, I hope you are right in trusting him."

"Me to Shizune, me to."

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**Well? Let me know! I'm trying to make this story better, so drop a line and let me know how to. REVIEW!**


	3. What Your Body Knows

**Newly rewritten chapter 2. I don't have a lot of time to get this done, but I'm trying, I promise. My goal is to have a rewritten chapter up every two weeks, but we'll see how that goes.**

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**What Your Body Knows **

**(But Your Mind Doesn't)**

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Chouji called, grinning broadly as he waved to his approaching friend. His smile faltered when he caught sight of his friend's sour face, proving the Nara was not in the best of moods. "I have your things, here," he said, thrusting the bag into his best friends' arms. "Shino just left, and Kiba is waiting just over there," he added, pointing to the dog nin leaning against one of the pillars of the main village gate, a similar look of annoyance on his face.

"Thanks Chouji," Shikamaru sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. It wouldn't due to take it out on the Akimichi; after all, it wasn't his fault. "I don't suppose you know whose bright idea this was, do you?" he asked, running through the list of suspects in his head.

"Ah, you see, the thing is..." the other boy stuttered. "I'm not supposed to say."

"I'll tell you," a familiar voice answered from above, one most wouldn't expect to hear so early in the morning. "It was me." Naruto dropped from a nearby roof, grinning like the idiot his best friend had always called him.

"You did this?" Kiba shouted angrily, pushing off the pillar marching over. "So, it's your fault we're being sent on a completely pointless mission that will probably take well over a month in the misguided attempt to force us to work through our issues?" The dog nin's hands made air quotes around the last two words of his rant. Kiba was absolutely fuming, debating whether he should pick a fight or not with the other ninja.

"Pffft..." Naruto shook his head at his friends' obvious denial of the underlying reason for the forced companionship. "If you're going to blame anyone, blame yourselves. I'm not the one who started this," he reminded them. "All I want is to see an end, so I talked to Granny Tsunade; we came up with a plan, and ta-da, here you are! Now deal with it, or I will tell her what really happened, and why this all started."

Two jaws dropped in surprise, and one eyebrow raised in question at what the blond truly knew about their situation and what had transpired between them.

"Gah, this is so troublesome." Shikamaru glared at the Kyuubi vessel. Running every possible outcome, he came to the conclusion that Naruto did really know what transpired between the two. "Well, Kiba, let's get going," he ordered, cutting the Inuzuka off as he opened his mouth to counter the blond.

"Fine," snapped the brunet.

Both shinobi studied each other for a moment, and without another word turned and sprinted out of the village gates. Jumping up into the trees, they continued on their way in complete silence.

* * *

By the fourth night, nothing had changed between the feuding friends. They were still at each others' throat, which usually ended with one of the pair falling from the trees, or sporting a nasty bruise.

Poor Akamaru refused to be within ten feet of either of them, having been caught in the crossfire on several occasions. One incident resulted in his white fur being singed.

Once they stopped to make camp in a clearing against a rock wall, Shikamaru went to work starting a fire, while Kiba rounded up extra wood. They settled in, curling up on opposite sides of the fire, and ignored each others' presence completely as they forced themselves to sleep.

The morning of the fifth day was bright and sunny with a clear sky, much to Shikamaru's dismay, but there was a cold chill in the air. It was quieter than usual between the two shinobi traveling together. Neither spoke as they packed up what possessions they had, and left their makeshift campsite looking as if they had never been there. Both were lost in thought about the mission as the moved through the trees. They knew full well the task was only given to them as an opportunity to force reconciliation.

Four hours later, neither ninja had broken the silence, instead choosing to spend most of their morning stealing glances at the other, and pretending not to notice the other doing the exact same. Eventually Kiba hit his breaking point, not being as patient or calm as the Nara, and stopped suddenly, dropping to the ground.

It took Shikamaru all of a second to notice, but he quickly followed. "What's wrong?" he asked cautiously, drawing a kunai from his weapons pouch. "Is there something out there?" He looked around at the dense forest, barely any light made it through the thick canopy, making him almost blind. He'd have to depend on Kiba's enhanced senses. Despite their constant fighting, he still trusted the younger chunin with his life.

"No, it's not that," the Inuzuka said, waving off the Nara's worries. He stared down at the ground, shuffling nervously, and kicking the small stone in front of his foot. Deciding it was better to just spit it out, he opened his mouth, but shut it again, teething clicking as his jaw snapped shut.

"Hm?" the raven grunted in confusion, a single elegant eyebrow rising with wonder.

"I'm sorry!" the tracking nin finally blurted out in a loud rush. He could feel his cheeks heat up as blood rushed to his face to match his tattoos.

"What?" the Nara heir gasped, almost falling over in shock not expecting those words in the least.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," the brunet mumbled again, scratching the back of his head, a nervous habit he had picked up from Naruto. "This whole thing is my fault. The day at the lake, I don't know what happened." He looked away, his face still crimson. "I could smell, taste, and feel your arousal," he said, groaning at the memory of the overwhelmingly sweet smell of the Nara's need. "Something just took over, and I suddenly found myself no longer in control, or even aware of what was going on. I'm so, so sorry Shikamaru." Kiba fell to his knees, bowing to the older shinobi, his head resting on the back of his hands. "I was so scared after... losing control. It's never happened before and I didn't want it to happen again, or chance hurting you or our friendship, so I started lashing out at you. I figured if you didn't want to be around me, then it couldn't happen again. It's my fault; I take responsibility for my actions. I just don't want to fight with you anymore." He looked up, showing the Nara his dark eyes full of regret before dropping his gaze again. "You've been one of my best friends since academy days," he murmured. "I don't want to lose that."

Shikamaru knelt in before his friend, placing his hands on Kiba's shoulders and forcing the grief- stricken boy to look him in the eye. "It's not your fault," he assured the teen somewhat reluctantly. "At least it's not entirely your fault. I provoked you as well, and picked my own fights. I didn't understand what had happened that day, and was embarrassed." He felt his own blush staining his cheeks as he remembered how much Kiba's earlier statement was true – he had wanted the younger boy. "Obviously your animal instincts took over, but something had to have been there for it to happen. I blame myself for that." He sighed, and looked away. "I'm sorry too, Kiba," he whispered. "We share the fault, it's not yours entirely."

Kiba nodded, and gave the other shinobi a small smile. He already felt better at owning up to his mistake and the fact that Shikamaru was willing to share the blame.

Standing up, they brushed the dirt from their knees. The dog nin's hand snaked out and grabbed Shikamaru's arm just as he was turning away. "I don't want to lose you Shikamaru," he murmured in embarrassment.

The raven couldn't help but smile. "You won't," he confided, reaching up to cover the tan hand with his own and giving a small squeeze. "I've put up with you antics for years, and you've dealt with my smart-mouth attitude. We'll be fine." Shikamaru smirked slightly. "Don't worry, if Naruto hasn't managed to chase me off yet, I don't think you will, or that I could get rid of you even if I wanted to. You're too dog-like." He ducked the fist that flew at his head and laughed.

"Ha-ha, so funny..." Kiba's voice dripped with sarcasm. He mentally cursed the smart-ass genius and his quick wit.

After a few minutes of fooling around, wrestling on the grassy floor of the forest, they grabbed their discarded bags, and continued on their way. It was silent again, but this time it wasn't an awkward silence that hung over them like the previous days, it was more of an understanding one.

"Well, I'm glad that's cleared up," said Kiba, breaking the quiet after a short while. "Now we can have fun and enjoy ourselves on this pointless exercise."

The Nara grinned, "True, it's the perfect excuse to check out all the attractions in other villages we never get to see," he agreed with a nod. "One thing is bugging me though." He paused, thinking their situation over.

"They had to have known it wouldn't take us long to sort everything out once we were alone together, so why the huge mission?" He had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with the Kyuubi vessel and what Shikamaru assumed he witnessed.

Kiba just shrugged. "Who knows, and who cares?" He said, brushing off the others worry, ready for a vacation. "We're free of any real duty, so let's have fun." He watched his friend who was still deep in thought. "You're over-thinking things again, just relax. What could they have possibly planned, right? What could possibly happen?"

* * *

The two friends walked through the first village of their mission together after finishing a small dinner at a quaint restaurant. The night was warm, but a pleasant breeze made its way through the streets.

"Are you sure about this?" Kiba asked uncertainly, glancing sideways at his silent companion.

"Yeah," Shikamaru said with a nod, looking up at the sky and watching the light slowly fade, the horizon turning a dazzling pink. "I wouldn't mind a night relaxing in a hot spring followed by a cool shower and a good nights' sleep that doesn't involve bugs crawling on me."

"Fair enough," the dog nin said with a shrug. "I'm no Shino myself, but that's not what I meant."

The lazy nin tore his gaze from the stars beginning to poke through the inky sky, and glanced at his loud mouth friend. "Oh?"

"What I meant is the sharing the room," the brunet explained, scratching the back of his head. "You know, after what happened and all."

"Don't worry about it," Shikamaru drawled, trying not to think too much into it and looked up at the stars again. "We can only afford it if we get a room together, at least if we plan on doing anything else on this trip. Plus, you'll have the bed to yourself; I don't like beds at inns."

"Huh?"

Explaining, Shikamaru continued, "Either they're too hard or too soft. I can never sleep on them."

Kiba just shrugged and walked through the door of an inn with a hot spring attached. Heading straight to the front desk he asked for a room for the two of them.

"Here you go," the old lady said, smiling kindly at them, and handing over a set of keys. "I must say, you two make an adorable couple."

Kiba blanched, and Shikamaru turned bright red. "W-we're not a c-c-couple!"

Looking apologetic the women replied. "Do forgive me, I just assumed with the one room and all. Please enjoy yourselves though. It's the third door on the left up the stairs." She directed them to the staircase to her right.

"Thanks," Kiba managed to mumble as he tugged a still burning Shikamaru after him.

They spent the night relaxing in the hot springs, and keeping their distance from each other, afraid someone else may comment. It was embarrassing that someone had picked up on the sexual tension between the two, when they themselves were completely oblivious to the fact the other felt the same way.

After Shikamaru came out of cold shower he made a bed for himself on the floor.

Kiba watched him from the bed scratching his head nervously at what he was about to do. "Hey, Shikamaru," he called quietly. His friend looked up at him. "You sure you don't want to try the bed, it's a king, there's plenty of room for the two of us. We wouldn't even touch each other if we spread all our limbs."

Standing up the shadow nin sat on the edge of the bed and slowly laid back. "Not bad actually, but this still doesn't seem like a good idea."

"It'll be fine," the dog nin reassured the Nara, hoping he was right as they curled up on opposite sides of the bed. They left the largest distance possible between them.

* * *

Shikamaru woke first, feeling well rested and too lazy to open his eyes. He pulled the warmth closer to him, cuddling it. His eyes flew when his hazy mind realized there shouldn't be extra warmth on him. He opened his eyes to see Kiba curled up next to him with his head resting on Shikamaru's chest, their arms wrapped around each other.

"AHHHHHH!"

The yell woke Kiba who immediately pushed back from his disturbed friend. Finding he pushed a little too hard he fell off the edge of the bed to the floor with a loud thud. "Ow!"

Shikamaru had jumped from the bed as well and both boys stared at each other across the bed unsure of what happened during the night to put them in that situation. Turning away from each other they dressed as fast as they possibly could and packed in silence. The check out was completed with as little talking as possible between them before they headed out.

It took twenty minutes of eerie quiet before Shikamaru spoke. "We never talk about that again."

"Done."

* * *

Three weeks into their mission, the two friends were laughing and joking like they had never been fighting, having pushed the awkward morning out of their minds altogether. The sexual tension had increased tenfold, but both teens were in denial, absolutely refusing to believe they could possibly be attracted to the other.

They had been through so many towns that it was almost a blur now after visiting many festivals and onsens, and engaging in the occasional bar fight that Kiba would start, and Shikamaru would have to bail him out of.

Only a few more villages were left, two of which were in the land of Rice Paddies, the home of the hidden village of sound.

The forest was cold and damp, an oddity given the late hour of the day. Storm clouds were gathering in the distance and rapidly drawing near as the wind was picking up.

"We should set up camp soon," Kiba yelled over the howling of the wind.

Shikamaru nodded knowing he wasn't as loud as the Inuzuka, and wouldn't be heard over the noise. "If I remember correctly," he tried yelling, hoping the other teen could hear him, though he knew he was mostly speaking to himself. "There are caves a few kilometres that way." He pointed, hoping that even if the brunet didn't hear him, he could at least pick up in his meaning of his gestures.

Luckily with his heightened hearing, Kiba did hear the Nara. "Ok," he yelled back and flashed Shikamaru a thumbs up just encase he wasn't heard.

They altered their course accordingly, battling the increasing strong wind. Suddenly, a kunai flew from their right, aimed at Shikamaru, who dodged narrowly escaping being hit. The three companions' circled back to back, weapons drawn, or in Akamaru's case, teeth bared.

"I can't smell them," the dog nin shouted. "They must be down wind."

Five enemy shinobi came out of the shadows, surrounding their small group. Both Konoha nin swallowed nervously as they recognized the village symbol on their enemies hitai-ate.

They were of Otogakure – Sound ninja.

* * *

**Well, is this actually getting better than what was originally posted, or should I give up all together and cut my loses.**


	4. What I Couldn't Do For You

**New chapter, all nicely rewritten. Let me know what you think.**

* * *

**What I Couldn't Do For You**

The enemy circled, ready to strike at any moment.

Without the slightest hint as to what their abilities were, Shikamaru started forming a plan, already thirty possible outcomes played out, and three quarters of them didn't end well for the trio.

Four Sound nin charged.

Shikamaru managed to bind two in his jutsu, while two others headed for Kiba, completely disregarding Akamaru. The fifth member of their team, curiously enough, hung back.

One of the men heading for the dog nin had a large claw, the other drew a katana. Both were easily avoided, and Kiba jumped to his nin-ken's side.

"Jujin Bushin!" Akamaru disappeared in a puff of smoke, an exact replica of Kiba appearing in his place. "Have a plan yet?" the brunet called to his teammate. He could see the shadow nin shake his head, as well as the two men caught in the Nara's kekkei genkai. "Gatsuga!" Kiba only managed to land a hit on one of the enemy, while the other dodged the transformed canine, and jumped clear of the attack, narrowly missing the Kiba clone with his sword.

"Shikamaru!"

Kiba's voice snapped the raven back to reality, alerting him to the present danger. The sound nin hanging back and circling the clearing was heading straight for the preoccupied shadow nin.

Managing to roll out of the line of fire thanks to Kiba's warning, Shikamaru was forced to break his seal and lost the shadows hold. Hand to hand wasn't his strong suit, but he was holding up against his two opponents, the third attacker having drawn back again.

Suddenly, a loud piercing note echoed through the woods causing both leaf nin's vision to blur. Thanks to his other senses, Kiba managed to stay on his feet and hold off the attacks that doubled in effort against him. Across the clearing, the raven wasn't so lucky.

Shikamaru lost focus at the sound of the attack blurring his sight. Slipping in the mud now covering the forest floor due to the heavy rain, a solid kick was landed to his ribs. He went down, sinking into the soft ground.

"Shikamaru!" yelled Kiba, as he watched in horror a kunai plunge into his friends' stomach, a small amount of blood trickled from the shadow nin's lips as he choked. The dog nin ducked the oncoming claw, screaming again for his fallen comrade to get up. His two enemies laughed and redoubled their efforts, their attacks relentless. He continued to dodge the sword and claw that followed his every move, and blocked his every escape as he tried to aid his teammate.

Shikamaru's arms and legs were pinned by two heavy bodies while the one who had felled him with the sound attack calmly walked over and kneeled on top of him. Surprisingly, the third nin was female, and like her companions, was grinning ear to ear.

"How about some fun?" she asked, the tip of a kunai slid down his cheek,. His blood trickled down, staining his pale face. "We were so bored, and then you came along. I think it's only fair that you entertain us, after all, you're on our turf uninvited." She leaned in close, eyes dancing with amusement. "Plus," she whispered breathily. "I like it when they scream."

A hand ran up his abs before ripping away the shirt and exposing the shadow nin's toned torso. Shikamaru fought the scream building as his captor pushed against the deep kunai wound on his lower gut. He struggled against the three holding him down, but his struggles only served to sink him further into the mud.

"He's so pretty," the nin kneeling over him sighed. "It would be a shame to waste him. Do you think I would be allowed to keep him?" The other two chuckled at her eagerness as she leaned in and bite into one of the dusty pink nipples, drawing blood.

The kunai blade sliced down his stomach in rapid succession, forcing a piercing scream from the chunin's lips. The blade continued making gashes in his ivory skin, his blood flowing freely, running off his body in rivulets, and mixing with the soaked earth below him.

"Mmm... I want him," the female moaned, rubbing her body against his. Leaning forward, she lapped at the blood pooling on the pale skin, her tongue rough against his open wounds. "It's not often prey walk willing into our territory, but when they do, Orochimaru-sama says we can play."

"Ahhh!" Shikamaru's body twisted in agony as his attackers tongue forcing its way into one of the many slashes on his chest. He almost sighed with relief when she sat back, his blood dripping from her mouth, but soon the blade ran along his stomach tearing deeply into the sensitive skin, slowly tracing just above his boxers elastic waist.

"You know what I'm going to do to you?" She pulled his pants down to mid thigh, boxers following. "I'm going to have you right here, then my friends will have their own fun." She cackled and grabbed his limp member, stroking him hard. She leaned forward and breathed into his ear. "I'll tell you a secret," she mockingly whispered. "I'm the gentlest, so come on pretty boy, get hard for me and I'll be nicer."

Her lips met his with bruising force and Shikamaru tried to shake her off, but fighting was useless. The Nara's lip split as she bit into it, tugging at hard in reprimand, and the coppery taste of his own blood filled him mouth.

While her one hand was busy with the pointless exercise of stroking the captured teen to hardness, her free hand came up, the kunai blade raking down his abs repeatedly.

Muffled screams echoed through the trees. Shikamaru felt her tongue cleaning his blood off his body as she moved down, the roughness of her tongue ripping into the open wounds. Trying to hold in his screams, he clenched his jaw, his teeth grinding, but a whimper still escaped. It wouldn't be long before he broke. He could see what would happen, every possible scenerio played on a loop in his mind like some sort of sick, twisted horror movie.

The deranged Sound nin took Shikamaru into her mouth, sucking hard, but he stayed soft. Pain was not a turn on for the Nara, and he didn't even have to expel any effort to stay soft under her misguided attempts.

Frustrated with his lack of response to her molestation, she stabbed her kunai into his gut again. "I will have you, you little bastard," she shrieked, her voice dying in the wind. She twisted the kunai buried in her prey leaving it in while she watched him writhe in agony, his cries music to her ears. A sickening grin spread over her face as a wicked idea formed.

The mud caked pants were roughly pulled down further, and the raven struggled harder, immediately knowing what she was planning. His body felt like it was burning, so much so that the freezing rain was warm against his skin. Three fingers of his tormentor thrust into his tight hole with no preparation or lubricant. He could feel himself tearing, and his throat grew raw as his cries of agony grew louder, and he knew the worst was still to come when the men holding him would take their turns. In his mind, he knew there was blood, and there would be much more, but he couldn't tell the difference between his own bodily fluids and the rain.

Roughly prodding her captive's prostrate, the sound nin cackled madly at her latest plan, her companions laughing gleefully along with her. They could almost taste success as the once limp cock twitched, and she reached out to stroke it.

Kiba couldn't focus, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't see. With every scream of anguish, his vision turned a darker shade of red and his blood pounded in his ears. The agonized howls of his best friend echoed through the woods, the sound almost making his heart stop. Every turn was blocked and he couldn't reach his tortured companion.

"Kiba!" Shikamaru screamed in desperation, every possible outcome of this horrid experience running though his mind, each more horrific than the last, driving the genius Nara insane. His body couldn't take the overload anymore. Every nerve was screaming in pain, his chest and stomach ripped to shreds, and he felt the shame of his body finally giving in to her demands. Unable to stand the guilt of failing himself and his teammate, he gave in to the darkness creeping into his mind, and gratefully sunk into oblivion knowing he wouldn't wake. The last thing he heard was an enormous growl erupt, Kiba's cry of absolute fury echoing through the woods. "Kiba..." he whispered sadly, a tear mixing with the water falling from the sky. "I'm sorry."

Shikamaru's terrified voice echoed in Kiba's mind, but the genius nin had long fallen silent, and the Inuzuka feared the worst. Fury coursed through his veins, and anger took over his every action.

"Akamaru, now!" yelled the brunet, his canine companion running to his side. "Jinju Konbi Henge, Sotoro!" A two headed white wolf stood in the middle of the forest, an earth shattering growl erupted from its mouths, causing every person within the clearing to shake in terror.

The two sound nins were unable to escape the fury of the beast. Torn to shreds within seconds, their bodies were scattered over the forest floor. The weight on Shikamaru disappeared as the three holding him scattered in a futile attempt to escape, but their fate had been sealed when Kiba heard the shadow nins first scream. No one would escape alive. Kiba hunted down, and ripped them to pieces, their innards decorating the trees in a gruesome manner.

Fighting off exhaustion, Kiba crawled to the still Nara, but Shikamaru wasn't conscious, his body far too still. "Shikamaru!" he yelled, his hand moving to check the younger teens pulse. It was there, but it was weak. "Shika! Wake up! Please! Shika!" His eyes wandered over the prone form of his friend in the mud, taking in every detail.

Long angry gashes adorned the pale body, the crimson blood still flowing freely. The black shirt was ripped open, his pants partially down and torn.

The distressed Inuzuka pulled the kunai from the body of his mutilated friend, before ripping his own jacket from his trembling body to stanch the bleeding. He fought the tears that stung his dark eyes, and choked back a sob, but the tears welled, and spilled over, mixing with the falling rain beading on his tattooed cheeks. "Akamaru, go get help!" he ordered, his voice cracking slightly. "Find the Hokage or Sakura. I don't care if you have to drag them here. Go!"

The giant dog barked, and ran into the woods. It was a two day trip home and he desperately hoped Shikamaru could hold out for the four day wait. "Please don't leave me," he begged the still form. "You promised I wouldn't lose you."

Searching the clearing, Kiba grabbed Shikamaru's mud soaked bag. His own had been shredded when he transformed. Heaving the limp body of the shadow nin in his arms, he ran for the caves they had previously been heading for. Lightning streaked across the sky, lighting up the woods around them, and the sky continued to weep.

The first cave they came to was dry, and the younger chunin deemed it good enough for the time being. Placing the body on the cold floor of the stone cavern, Kiba dumped the contents of the only surviving bag, scrolls rolling in all directions as he grabbed any medical supplies he could see. He had no remarkable talent when it came to first aid- it had always his sister's forte- and he silently cursed himself for not paying more attention to Iruka-sensei or his mother.

Stripping the unconscious form, he dressed as many of the ugly gashes that marred the beautiful skin as he could. The two three-inch-wide puncture wounds from the kunai on his lower gut were the worst, and it looked as though the second kunai had been twisted while still in the body for nothing more than to cause extra pain, and it made Kiba sick to his stomach. The internal damage was beyond anything that the tracker could handle, but nothing major hand been hit, and Shikamaru was a shinobi, these wounds were part of the job, his body knew how to cope with them to a certain degree.

After dealing with the vicious stab wounds, the tracker looked over the others. The bleeding from the minor abrasions had stopped, as well as the slice on his cheek, but he long ugly slashes still bled freely, the blood staining the rock floor beneath them. There was two more on his upper left thigh, both around four inches long, another ten inches long looked like it had run along the boxer line on his lower abdomen. Seven long scars ran over his torso, crisscrossing in several places, all between six to twelve inches. There was also one per arm running from shoulder to wrist, any deeper and the Nara would have bled out by now.

Tears stung the younger teen's eyes as he dressed the body of his fallen comrade. "I'm sorry Shika," he choked out, struggling to keep his grief at bay. "I'm so, so sorry." Tears blurred his vision further, but he refused to let them fall. "I should have gotten to you faster. This is my fault. You're the strategist, I'm the fighter. I should have sensed them earlier, I should have known they were there."

Still blaming himself, he grabbed the only blanket, and wrapped the freezing body of his friend in its warmth, swaddling him like a child. He leaned back against the cave wall, watching the shallow breathing of the unconscious Nara. His eyes started feeling heavy as he struggled to stay awake, but his chakra was too depleted from the massive amount he used in the final transformation, and darkness overtook him quickly.

* * *

Shikamaru was more than shocked to wake up the next morning. Not only that, but the found he couldn't move with his body still mummy wrapped in the blanket, arms pinned to his sides. The first thought through his mind was that they were captured, but he soon realized that wasn't the case. He was also acutely aware of the warm body pressed up against his left side, and the familiar and comforting woodsy scent of Kiba set his mind at ease.

At some point in the night, Kiba had shifted from leaning against the wall, to the lying on the ground beside the Nara. The heat of the other body drew him in, and his face was now buried in the older teens' neck, his body fleshed out against the taller boy, his arm flung over the wounded chest.

Shikamaru whimpered quietly as Kiba's arm moved further down his scarred chest, brushing over the fresh injuries of the night before. "Kiba?" the Nara called softly, trying hard not to startle the other chunin awake. "Wake up!" He tried to wiggle free, but pain lanced through his body forcing a sharp gasp from his cracked lips.

Kiba started awake at sharp inhalation of air, and propped his weight up on his elbow, raising himself off the immobile body beside him. "Shikamaru!" he cried, realizing he was unintentionally causing the injured genius pain. He brought a hand up, running the tips of two of his fingers gently down the side of the other boys face, praising whatever higher power he could that the other was awake. Realizing the intimacy of position he was in he immediately dropped his hand and rolled away for the genius. "Sorry."

Stunned by the sudden show of quiet affection, Shikamaru blinked slowly before remembering his current situation. "It's ok," he mumbled, struggling with his bindings again. "Ahhh... could you unwrap me?" the Nara heir asked after a moment, giving a sheepish smile. "I'm stuck."

"Oh, yeah, sure." The dog nin carefully unwrapped the wounded teen, and upon catching sight of what lay beneath the covers, immediately flushed bright red, almost matching his clan markings. "Ahhh... right..." he mumbled, scratching the back of his head, and willing himself to not look down.

It took only a moment for Shikamaru to realize he shouldn't be able to feel the cool breeze flowing through the cave so acutely. He glanced down at his body to find it completely bare other than the blood stained wrappings, and he blushed crimson to match the equally embarrassed Inuzuka. "Kiba?" the Nara asked quietly, trying not to stutter. "Where are my clothes?"

"Well you see, it's like this," the Inuzuka started, struggling to keep his gaze elsewhere. "Your shirt was ripped apart, and your pants and boxers were in the way, not to mention soaking wet and covered in mud, plus completely destroyed as well," he rambled, heart pounding at the sudden discovery that his best friend was more than just attractive. _"_Ikind of didn't even notice you were, uhh... you know, naked, till now. I was a little preoccupied with the bleeding and you nearly dying, and, yeah..."

As embarrassed as he was, Shikamaru laughed, but his body protested, pain shooting through his limbs. Tan hands fluttered uselessly over Shikamaru's body, unsure of what to do or how to help.

"Can I have my boxers at least?" the normally lazy nin asked as the dark slitted eyes continued to scan his body.

"Umm... in a minute," Kiba muttered, distracted by the amount of blood soaked into the bandages wrapping the thin body. "I need to redress your wounds."

"But..." Shikamaru tried to protest.

"No buts, it's not like it's something I haven't seen before," the brunet reprimanded, peeling off the bloodied bandages, and tossing them into the corner of the cavern.

"What on earth are you talking about?" the Nara said in annoyance. "You've never seen me naked before." He tried to raise his arms to cover himself, but ended up wincing, his arms falling uselessly back to the ground.

"That's not what I meant," Kiba said, rolling his eyes. Nimble fingers redressed the ugly slashes, working quickly and efficiently. "I've never seen you naked, but it's not like I haven't seen a guy's dick before. You forget I have one too," he added with a sly grin, still trying to convince himself he wasn't interested in Shikamaru's.

Shikamaru was quiet for a moment, letting his friend patch him up. "Kiba?"

"Hm?"

"What happened?" The Inuzuka was strangely silent, and it was somewhat worrying. Shikamaru decided to push forward. "I shouldn't have survived to encounter. Every scenario that played out ended with us dead or captured, and yet here we are, alive and... mostly well. So what did you do?"

* * *

**Well? Better? I hope so. Still dark, but that's needed for later.**


	5. Burning

**New chapter! Thanks for your patience guys, much appreciated. It's longer than the others by quite a bit, so enjoy!**

* * *

**Burning**

"I should be asking you what happened," Kiba said quietly.

"All I remember is the blade cutting through my skin," the Nara whispered hoarsely. The dark eyes turned away, unable to meet the brunet's worried gaze. "The woman was on me, straddling me as she tortured me, laughing while her filthy hands stripped me of my dignity." Tears welled up in his eyes as he trailed off. He was humiliated. As a ninja, he should have been able to cope with everything he was put through, but last night was his breaking point. "I'm so weak," he said, his voice so low that Kiba could barely hear his words.

Kiba froze, his gaze going to his friends' frightened face. "You're not weak," he insisted, wanting nothing more than to hold the teen and tell him everything was fine, that it was all a dream.

Never in all the years he had known the shadow nin had he seen the Nara so emotional before, Shikamaru was untouchable as far as Kiba was concerned. He had heard that the raven had lost it once, and that was over the Sasuke retrieval team, his friends. Unfortunately, Temari had seen and teased him mercilessly about it, probably one of the reasons he'd clamped down on his emotions.

The dark head shook in the negative, Shikamaru refusing to believe the Inuzuka.

"I want to help you," the dog nin urged. "But you have to tell me exactly what happened; I need to know what they did to you."

"I-I-I can't say-y-y."

"Shikamaru, if you need to cry, then cry."

The floodgates broke, and tears spilled over as Shikamaru let everything he'd been holding in go. His whole body shook with each choking sob, his body too weak to even move to hide his shame.

"Shhh... Shika," Kiba hushed in a panic. Without thinking, he pulled the trembling boy into his lap, and threw the blanket over the shivering body, the teen clutched to his chest.

Too many thoughts and emotions were racing through the startled and somewhat frightened Inuzuka. The boy sobbing into his chest was not the Nara Shikamaru he knew, the renowned lazy genius of the Hidden Leaf, with nerves of steel. No, the man before him was broken, striped of his pride and honour. It wasn't just scary, it was terrifying.

"It's ok, it's over now," the tracker murmured over and over again, gently rocking the shuddering body. "You're safe, I have you." The sobbing only grew worse, and Kiba was at a loss as to what to do, or how to even handle a situation such as this. He knew that for a torture victim, the entire situation was out of character. "You have to tell me what happened," he practically begged, afraid of what he was about to hear. "I can't help you until you do."

The hysterical teen pressed his face into the other boys' chest. "Kiba, s-s-she..."

Slowly but surely, the story came out in a tumble of words. The Inuzuka struggled to make sense of the torrent of slurred and mumbled words that Shikamaru managed to choke out between sobs. By the end, Kiba was staring in complete dismay at the boy he was cradling to his chest. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind that while he was fighting, that type of horror had been forced upon his friend and comrade. The only thought running through his mind was that he didn't get to the Nara in time, he was too late.

They sat in silence just listening to each other's breathing and taking comfort in the warmth of another body. The heart wrenching sobs gradually died down, and the younger teen hiccupped occasionally.

"Kiba," Shikamaru breathed, his voice sounded so hollow and broken. "You still haven't answered me. What happened?"

"I killed them..." He looked away, unable to look Shikamaru in the eyes. "Akamaru and I formed our man beast combination transformation, and I hunted down and ripped them apart." He held Shikamaru close to him, resting his chin on top of the other teens head. "It was like I was possessed by the hatred that flowed through me. I could hear you screaming in absolute agony, a-a-and, I lost it." He sat there clinging to Nara, the younger teen grounding him as memories of the night before played through his mind.

"You're crying."

Shikamaru's voice broke him out of his twisted reverie. Reaching up, he was shocked to find tears streaming down his own face and soaking into the raven hair.

"I'm not sure what happened exactly," he continued, surprising himself in his ability to keep his voice even. "It only seemed like only a few seconds, and then I was standing in the middle of the forest drenched in their blood, surrounded by pieces of the bastards." Shikamaru's screams of agony echoed through his mind, and he shuddered.

"You saved my life Kiba."

"Yeah," the brunet mumbled. "I don't regret that."

"You saved us both, never forget that."

Kiba nodded, lost in thought. A shudder ran through the thin body in his arms, and he remembered that the Nara was still completely naked in his lap. "Oh, ah..." He loosened his hold on the other, leaning back a little. "Do you still want your boxers?"

Shikamaru seemed to have calmed down thanks to the reassurance of the warm body holding him. A small laugh escaped as the corner of his lips turned up in a smirk, but it didn't reach the sadness in his eyes. "Yeah, that'd be nice," he said, sighing in relief.

"Kay, hold on." Being as gentle as possible, Kiba laid the injured boy back on the ground, fussing a bit before he went to look for the missing pair of boxers. "Here they are," he said holding them out to Shikamaru.

"Ummm... Kiba," Shikamaru said rather embarrassed. He looked up at his friend awkwardly from his place on the cave floor. "I can't move..." he trailed off, hoping the other teen would catch the hint. It was just his luck, Kiba stared at him blankly. "I think you're going to have to do it," he explained, his face flushing a light pink.

"What! No!" the brunet protested, waving the boxers in front of the injured man.

"You stripped me!" shouted the frustrated genius. He rolled his eyes as Kiba made a face at him. "Please?"

"Fine," the Inuzuka groaned, pulling the blanket off the genius's body. With nowhere else to look, Kiba's eyes slid over the trim body, noting the muscle that lay beneath the light skin. It was surprising to say the least considering how much of his spare time the Nara spent laying around watching the clouds as opposed to training. Realizing that he was indeed checking out his best friend, he averted his gaze, and focused on sliding the boxers up Shikamaru's body. He placed a hand under the small of Shikamaru's back, lifting the boy and pulling the shorts over the hips and around the trim waist. "There, happy?" he asked, almost sarcastically as he lowered the pale body back to the ground.

"Very," the genius quipped with a smirk.

Rolling his eyes, Kiba snagged the blanket, and carefully wrapped the injured man to keep his half naked body warm. Satisfied with his work, he climbed to his feet, dusting his hands off as he surveyed his work and nodded. "Seeing as we have no edible food," he said, glancing at the half ruined bag. It was a wonder the medical supplies had survived, though they had been wrapped in a separate kit inside the backpack. "I'm going to go see if I can scrounge up some food. I'll be back as soon as I can." He turned to leave, checking his pouch for kunai.

"Kiba!" Shikamaru's panicked voice echoed through the cave.

After everything that had happened, the Nara wasn't ready to be alone. He knew it was nonsensical, but he couldn't help the fear that flooded through him at the thought of Kiba disappearing from sight. Without the use of his arms and legs, he was completely defenseless. Anyone could take advantage of him, or finish what had been started the night before.

As the different possibilities filtered through his mind, his breathing picked up, verging on hyperventilation.

The dog lover turned to see his friends' eyes wide with terror, and breathing ragged. "What is it?" he asked, concern filling his eyes. Rushing over and kneeling beside the obviously frightened teen, Kiba cupped a pale cheek, gently running his thumb over the soft skin. "Shika, what's wrong? Are you ill, do you need anything?"

"P-please don't leave me here by myself," the raven haired shinobi begged.

Kiba blinked in surprise. The Nara had stuttered. Never in his life had he heard Shikamaru stutter before. "But we need food," he tried to explain, his soft caress never stilling as he soothed the other teen. "I can't take you with me or your wound could reopen, or tear even worse. I can't risk causing you further pain."

"I can't," the shadow nin mumbled, eyes drooping shut tiredly as Kiba's warm hand on his cheek calmed him "I can't stay here alone. You'll just have to be super careful."

Taking a deep breath, Kiba scowled down at his injured friend. "Fine, but don't blame me when this plan goes to hell," he muttered. Wrapping the blanket more tightly around his comrade, he hoisted the younger teen off the ground, gingerly holding him in his arms. "If you feel any discomfort, you tell me immediately, you got it? I don't care how minuscule the detail is, I want to know so I can fix it."

The Nara nodded his understanding, sighing in relief. Managing to heave an arm around the teen's shoulders without causing himself too much pain, he buried his face in Kiba's neck. "Thank you," he whispered softly.

Feeling very insecure about having Shikamaru so close to him, the nervous nin inhaled deeply through his nose. Upon smelling no fresh blood, he strode out of the cave in search of food, Shikamaru cradled in his arms.

* * *

The two boys spent the majority of the day at a small slow moving river they stumbled upon in the search for food. Kiba entertained the invalid with his over active fishing that was so over the top it put Naruto to shame. He'd run along the surface of the water in his boxers, kunai in hand, until he spotted a fish or tow. The Inuzuka would then jump straight into the air to perform a perfect arching back flip and dive head first into the water. The result was larger than what should have been normal waves, often sending a spray in Shikamaru's direction, though only a light mist would ever hit the Nara.

Kiba was beautiful in his own way, or so the Nara was beginning to see as he gazed at the dog lover running over the surface of the river, muscles rippling under the tan skin.

After managing to catch a few fish, Kiba made his way back to shore. Gathering branches from debris that littered the ground from the fierce winds the night before, he started a small fire to cook on. It didn't take long to turn the small flames into a roaring blaze, the freshly caught dinner carefully placed over the heat.

Sitting in between Kiba's now fully clothed legs, Shikamaru leaned back against the hyper active teens' broad chest, the warm tan arms wrapped gently around his middle. Staring at the dancing flames, he watched their dinner char over the fire, the heat starting to make him drowsy. Struggling to stay awake, he tried to sit up but hissed as a jolt of pain shot through his body.

"Shika?" Kiba's voice broke through the sluggish mind of the injured genius.

"Hmm..."

"Are you ok?" Kiba asked, his voice full of concern. "I'm not hurting you, am I? I can move my arms if I am." The strong arms disappeared from around the Nara's waist.

Missing the warmth and security the Inuzuka had been unknowingly providing, Shikamaru quickly responded. "No, you're fine," he mumbled, then paused when Kiba's word sunk in. "Hey," he said suddenly, tilting his head to the side to look up at the teen holding him "I just realized that you called me Shika." He relaxed back into the warm body as the arms encircled him once again.

"Oh yeah, sorry," the brunet apologized, scratching the back of his head. "You don't like it?"

"No, it's not that," the younger teen assured. "It's just, the last person to call me that was Temari." He fell silent for a moment, reflecting on the botched relationship. "I never liked it coming from her though, it usually meant she was mad. It sounds nice from you, I like it," he admitted, a warm flush staining his pale features that he wanted to blame on the heat of the fire. "It has a sort of sweetness to it."

"Good," the Inuzuka said with a soft snort. "Cause I wouldn't have stopped just cause you didn't like it." The dog nin nuzzled the Nara's temple affectionately before realizing his actions and pulling back, shocked at his own behaviour. Leaning back against the tree again, he watched the flames licking the scales of their dinner, thinking out what he was going to say next. "Our friendship is changing, isn't it?" he asked, knowing the answer, but wanting confirmation.

Shikamaru carefully thought over his answer, thinking back on the last day or so. "Yeah," he finally confirmed with a small nod. "Things are going to be different now after what happened, and I apologize in advance." He wasn't called a genius for nothing, he knew what his mind was dealing with, and he knew how illogical he was being in his fears and how the situation could, and may progress.

"There's no need to..."

"Kiba," the lazy shinobi interrupted. "Over the next while I am going to be more dependent on you than I feel comfortable admitting, and I need to know if you are okay with what has, and will happen."

"Yeah," the older teen said without hesitation. "I mean, the taking care of you and being there for you part," he corrected. "Not the actual cause."

They lapsed back into silence. Nestled comfortably in Kiba's arms, Shikamaru began dozing off a little, his mind wandering.

Kiba watched Shikamaru as he slept, stroking his raven hair and flushed cheek. Even after going through hell the teen looked cute. The Inuzuka would have to be blind not to notice.

"Fish is done," announced the hungry dog boy fifteen minutes later. Dark, slitted eyes darted between the fish he was holding and the Nara in his arms. "Ah... do you need me to feed you?" he asked nervously.

Shikamaru lazily opened one eye. "Hmm..." he groaned, his hazy mind slowly waking and taking in the situation. He tried to move his arms, but even the smallest movement caused him to hiss in pain. "Yeah," he confessed quietly, almost ashamed to be in such a position. It was embarrassing for a shinobi to be so useless. "I still can't move my arms without extreme pain coursing through them."

Tearing small pieces off the fish, Kiba alternated between shoving the food down his own throat, and carefully holding tiny bits for Shikamaru to nibble at.

"You and Temari dated, right?" the dog nin suddenly said out of the blue. He was curious about the loud and often violent fan user, and why the lazy nin who thought most things too troublesome to deal with would put up with such a woman.

"Yeah, for about two months," he said, looking up at the teen behind him, a thin eyebrow arching in curiosity at the unexpected question. "I broke it off though." The Nara chuckled humorously at the memory. "I thought she was going to kill me when I did," he said dryly. "I wasn't nice about it."

"Why, what did you do?" The Inuzuka couldn't imagine the Nara doing anything that could be considered particularity terrible considering his personality, but he had to admit, he didn't know the teen all that well anymore.

"It was just before the chunin exams," the raven began ominously as if telling a scary story. "You remember, she came to Konoha as the rep for Suna?"

"Uh huh."

"Well," the raven drawled, thinking back on the incident in question. "We had been seeing each other off and on whenever we had the chance. Long distance relationships are difficult," he explained. "Especially when there is no guarantee you'll even see the person when they are in town. It often happened that when one of us was in town, the other was out on their own mission."

Kiba nodded his understanding. While never having been in the same situation, he could imagine the difficulties.

"I ran into her one day while I was wandering through town," the Nara continued. "She tried to drag me off to my apartment for..." he trailed off, and cleared his throat nervously. "You know... Anyway, I wasn't interested, and then it hit me – I wasn't really interested in her – so I told her. Bad idea. She hit me over the head with her fan so hard that I actually had to go find Ino to heal the crack in my skull."

By this point the dog nin was laughing his head off, picturing the entire encounter. He could definitely see Shikamaru being so blunt, and Temari losing her temper. "Wait," he choked, wiping away a tear. "Didn't you have to be her escort while she was in the village?"

"I swear Tsunade did that on purpose," Shikamaru muttered, wishing he could disappear.

Kiba was howling now, his entire body almost convulsing with laughter.

"Shut it," the younger nin snapped irritably. "At least I've gotten action."

The laughter stopped abruptly. "I'm not a virgin."

"What!" the Nara said incredulously. "Seriously? Who? You've never dated anyone," he said, thinking back to their time in the village, and distinctly remembering the lack of female companionship other than his teammate.

"Who said anything about dating someone?" the Inuzuka asked. "You said action, and I've gotten plenty of that."

Shikamaru's jaw dropped. "So, you just have casual sex?"

"Well, yeah," Kiba said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Shikamaru's brain was running through a list of every person they knew, putting names to the faces he'd seen the dog lover with, and trying to figure out who would have possibly had such a casual relationship with him. It was then that Shikamaru came to the realization that Kiba was by no means unattractive, in fact he was hot, causing the Nara to blush and squirm uncomfortably in the Inuzuka's arms. "So, with who?" he finally asked, giving up on guessing from the hundreds of choices.

"Ah... Okay, let's see," Kiba said, unashamed by the current topic of conversation. "There was that one time with Tenten," he listed. "And another with Ino when we both got really drunk at a party."

"You slept with my teammate!" Shikamaru shouted, more in surprise than anger. He could see his loud annoying teammate sleeping around, especially since she had always said she was waiting for her precious Sasuke-kun, not that she had a chance. Uchiha Sasuke was taken whether the Uchiha, the one who had claim to him, or anyone else actually knew.

"You asked," Kiba said, holding up his hands in defense. "Now be quiet if you want to hear the rest," he chided softly, wrapping his arms back around the thin waist as he thought for a moment. "Well actually, I don't think there's anyone else you know, but there were three random girls from the village. That's it, I think. Oh wait, there was that one other time..." he trailed off, not sure he was comfortable discussing the particular incident. "You know, this is a weird conversation, maybe we should stop."

The shadow nin nodded mutely, mulling over what he had just learned. Knowing Kiba had slept around with random people somehow stung, but for the life of him, the Nara genius couldn't figure out why.

They sat in silence together, watching the sun set, the raven dozing comfortably in the others' warm embrace. If either thought about it, the situation would probably have been considered odd. Never before had they been so comfortable around each other, but after the ordeal the night before, Kiba couldn't seem to leave the Nara's side, and Shikamaru felt infinitely safer with the Inuzuka close by. It wasn't any reason to be sitting the way they were, but the thought hadn't really crossed their minds.

"We better get back to the cave before it gets too cold," Kiba announced when Shikamaru shivered against his body. Lifting the cocooned nin easily, he carried the injured teen back to the make shift shelter, and placed the bundled body on the hard ground. He made sure the blanket was securely tucked in around the shadow nins immobile body before settling back against the cave wall a foot away.

"What about you?" Shikamaru asked, watching from his place on the floor of the cave as the Inuzuka tried to hide his shivering. "You should be under here too."

"No... I cou," He was abruptly interrupted by the lazy nin telling him to get his troublesome ass under the blanket. The Nara didn't leave room for argument, even threatening to try and move himself and risk injuring himself further.

Sighing in defeat, the dog nin crawled under the blanket and Shikamaru wiggled closer to him. He wrapped his arms around the thin frame of his friend and pulled him to his body. The warmth of the others' body immediately seeped into him, the shivering slowly dying down.

"Thank you," whispered Shikamaru as he cuddled up to the larger boy, and promptly fell asleep.

Watching his friend sleep, Kiba let out a confused sigh. "Yup," he muttered to himself. "Definitely changing. Never in a million years would the Shikamaru I know have cuddled up to someone, let alone another guy before." He buried his nose in the stiff and matted raven hair, inhaling deeply. "I guess last night really shook him," he mumbled, drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The bright morning light that streamed through the mouth of the cave woke the sleepy Inuzuka. He groaned in frustration, not wanting to get up, and pulled the hot body next to him closer. It took a few minutes to penetrate his foggy mind that the body beside him was Shikamaru, and he shouldn't be burning to the touch. Sitting up as quickly as possible, Kiba untangled himself from the others' limbs and the blanket to take in the Nara beside him.

Shikamaru's skin was glistening with a sheen of cold sweat. The pale body was burning up and flushed an angry pink.

Panic hit the Inuzuka with the force of a charging nin-ken. "Shit!" he shouted, his voice bouncing off the caves walls, reiterating how truly alone they were, and without proper medical help.

* * *

**I hope you are enjoying this. Please don't forget to let me know what you think. Review!**


	6. Shadows of the Mind NEW

**Yo! I'm back with a new chapter! Awesome, right?**

**If you haven't already, you should check out my oneshots. Two with Sasuke and Naruto, and one with Kiba and Shika. Or, try my other multi chapter fic, its a NaruSasuNaru story, gets a little smutty later on, then kinda, umm... bloody, violent, and angsty, but it'll have a happy ending. Heh, always a happy ending, eh?**

* * *

**Shadows of the Mind**

The blanket was ripped from the feverish teens' body, and tossed blindly away to some unused corner of the cave. Kiba's slitted eyes narrowed in concentration as they wandered over the bandaged chest, searching for anything that may lead him to the source of the problem.

Deciding to turn to his most reliable attribute, he lowered his head to the bloodied wrappings and sniffed each one. The scent of infection was predominately in the two deep wounds where the kunai had gored the Nara, but there was also a hint of the smell in the one slash running from hip to hip.

"Shika? Wake up, now!" he yelled, gently shaking the boy by the shoulders.

To the brunets' great annoyance, Shikamaru only moaned in his sleep, sounding pained, but didn't wake. His body was flushed, and covered with a sheen of sweat, making the teen sticky, and matting his hair.

"Shika, please wake up," Kiba begged. Not even bothering to search for the blanket he had tossed earlier, he gathered the boy in his arms and sprinted from the cave. The goal was to cool down the overheating body of the Nara, hopefully helping him find some relief from the raging inferno keeping him unconscious.

Skidding to a stop beside the same stream as the day before, he placed Shikamaru on the ground, mindful of the injuries, and quickly stripped down to his boxers. It had been a tossup between jumping in fully clothed, but the desire to be warm later had won out. He scooped up his friend again and waded into the water up to his waist.

A loud shriek echoed through the trees as Kiba sunk down into the water. Shikamaru's eyes snapped open as soon as the cold water made contact with his burning skin. He flailed in the dog nins arms, eyes frantically darting around in panic.

"Shh-shh-shh..." the dog nin soothed, balancing the confused teen on his knees, and rubbing his back. "Shika, it's ok, it's just me. Several of your wounds are infected, and your body is trying to fight it off with a high fever," he tried to explain, unsure whether anything he was saying was even registering with the delirious Nara. "They have to be cleaned out or it could get worse."

An arm snaked around the Inuzuka's back, and Shikamaru buried his face in the offered shoulder, closing his eyes and letting out a shaking sigh. "I feel like I'm on fire," he slurred.

"I know," Kiba soothed, shuffling over to the edge of the river, still cradling the shivering body. "I'm going to clean out your stomach wounds," he explained as he grabbed a cloth off the bank. He made his way back into deeper water, the Nara clinging to him. "Hold on tight, this is going to hurt like hell."

Biting his lip, Shikamaru whimpered, nails biting into Kiba's shoulder as the dog nin probed his bleeding stomach. A hair raising scream filled the air, echoing through the trees as Kiba scrubbed the infected wounds, Shikamaru thrashing violently in his arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Kiba chanted over and over. It was almost too much for the Inuzuka to bear, watching the other teen howl in pain, pain he was causing him. "There, I'm done," he promised, quickly finishing the third and final infected wound before throwing the bloody cloth onto the shore. Pulling the sobbing nin against his chest, he attempted to soothe the delirious teen, whispering comforting words in his ear while gently rubbing circles on his back.

Stifling the sobs that racked his body from the intense pain coursing through him, Shikamaru clung to his friend, tears streaming down his face. He was embarrassed by his behaviour, but too delirious from the fever to care enough to stop, especially when his gut felt like someone had punched a hole through it.

"Let's head back," the tired dog nin said, knowing he couldn't stay in the water or the Nara would bleed out. Gathering his clothes, he carried Shikamaru back to the cave, and quickly and quietly redressed the freshly cleaned wounds, wrapping him back up in the blanket retrieved from where it was tossed earlier.

Shikamaru was mumbling incoherent nonsense under his breath, tossing his head back and forth while Kiba could only watch and worry. The fever hadn't broken. If anything, it had gotten worse. He forced down some leftover fish, and tried to feed the feverish nin, but Shikamaru wasn't responding.

He spent the rest of the day with his friends' head in his lap, gently stroking the damp raven hair. Shikamaru twisted in agony on the floor, and the fever raged on. Occasionally the dog nin wiped sweat off the normally lazy nins brow with a cool damp cloth. He tried talking to him, but nothing was penetrating the foggy mind. All he could focus on was Shikamaru was alive, and that's all that mattered.

The day wore on, and the night was no better. Kiba held Shikamaru's burning body while he moaned and cried out for him as the fever burned, seemingly worse as time passed. He noticed the younger chunin seemed calmer when he whispered that he was there, and spoke to him. It wasn't much, but it helped ease both their minds.

The early hours of the morning came, the sky lightening outside the cave, and Kiba was still without sleep. When the sun was finally poking over the horizon, the fevered nin quieted down and fell into a restless sleep. The worried dog nin let out a sigh of relief and let his body drift off to sleep, still holding the younger boy.

* * *

The sun was high in the sky by the time Shikamaru finally awoke, and a little while longer before he was semi alert and aware of his surroundings. The fever still hadn't broken, but it had dropped considerably, enough for him to eat the last of the dry rations Kiba offered him.

"You still feel too hot?" the Inuzuka asked, repacking the bag he'd dumped in search of food. "I'm going to take you back to the creek to cool you off," he said when the tired Nara nodded. Picking up the fragile body, he waited for some form of protest, but none came.

Finding the stream was easier having already made the trek twice, once in a panic. Laying the bundled teen down on the grassy bank, Kiba stripped down to his boxers again, and waded into the cool water, Shikamaru in his arms. "Can you move your arms yet?" he questioned.

Wincing in pain, the younger nin gave an experimental wave of his arms under water. "I can," he choked out, fighting a whimper of pain. "But very slowly, and it still hurts like a mother fucker." He glared when the Inuzuka laughed, but realized it wasn't at his pain but at his phrasing. Normally he wasn't one to swear. Smirking, he wrapped his arms lightly around friends' body, resting on the available shoulder. "Thanks again for taking care of me," he said lightly. "You know, I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you, so thank you."

A blush crept onto the embarrassed Inuzuka's face. "Don't mention it," came his gruff reply.

"No, really, it means a lot that you're doing this." Shikamaru felt his own cheeks flush, and took comfort in the fact that due to the fever, Kiba probably wouldn't be able to tell.

"Would you not have done the same?" the older teen asked, genuinely curious.

The younger nin smiled into the tan skin. "I suppose you're right," he agreed. "I would have - any of our friends would have, though I have to say I'm a little happier this happened with you and not some of the others." He chuckled to himself at the thought of some of their friends being stuck with the care of another. They were all nice enough, but sometimes they were a little over the top. "Can you imagine if I was here with Lee or Naruto?"

"What about Shino or Neji?" Kiba added with his own broad grin.

There was silence for about ten seconds before both teens burst into hysterical laughter. The idea of any of their male friends playing nurse was just too funny a mental image. Tears of mirth were running down the canine trainers' face as he struggled to focus on keeping Shikamaru's head above water.

They spent the day floating in the water and lolling about on the grassy bank. Kiba kept a close eye on his injured friend, always jumping to his aid when the other boy was in pain, or taking him into the water if he was too hot.

Later in the evening, Kiba caught more fish and cooked them over a fire. The process of feeding them both began again when the humiliated Nara discovered he still couldn't do it for himself. Normally one would think the lazy chunin would love lying around and being fed, but he detested being useless and helpless.

As the sun set, Kiba carried his worn-out friend back to their cave, and curled up on the floor under the blanket. Kiba appeared to fall asleep right away, drained from taking care of the injured nin. The task a lot harder than he thought it would be. It was like living for two people.

Shikamaru lay awake, unable to sleep as his fever raged. After a bit of a struggle, he managed to roll onto his side to face Kiba. He watched the Inuzuka. The tan skin appeared washed out in the pale moonlight filtering in through the mouth of the cave. Unable to resist the call, he reached out and stroked his friends' cheek, tracing the red triangle tattoos of the Inuzuka clan with the tip of his finger. To him, the older nin appeared innocent and relaxed, and he came to the conclusion that the hyperactive shinobi was quite cute when he slept. The fingers continued their exploration, sliding down the strong jaw line and slowly making their way down the soft curve of the neck. He paused only a moment when the sleeping mans breathing changed, biting his lower lip, but it evened out again, and he continued.

The supposed sleeping boy was actually quite awake. He had only closed his eyes to rest for a moment, wanting to stay awake until his injured comrade had fallen asleep just like the night before, but now he kept them closed out of sheer curiosity. He felt the too warm hand move lower, the fingers agonizingly soft and teasing against his skin, tracing his collar bone and defined pecs. Moving lower, the thin fingers outlined his well sculpted body, circling each muscle of his hard abdomen. The movements were driving Kiba insane as he wondered just what the Nara was playing at. The hand splayed out, resting on his chest as the body it belonged to shifted again beside him, pressing closer.

"Kiba..." The shadow user whispered, resting his burning cheek against the others' chest, right next to his hand. "Please don't leave me." As he drifted off to sleep in the arms of his friend, he swore he could hear Kiba whisper 'never'.

The older nin cracked an eye. Seeing Shikamaru was finally asleep, he stealthily reached down and adjusted his now throbbing erection so it wasn't as uncomfortable. "Fuck."

* * *

_Cold hands ran over his body, touching him in places he never wanted her to see. Pinned to the cave floor, he struggled against his captor._

"_Come on pretty boy, I just want a bit of fun." The voice echoed through his mind, mocking him._

_Her mouth covered his, biting his lower lip, drawing blood. She moved down his neck, nipping hard at his soft skin and more blood trickled down his neck. _

"_You're so sexy, and you're all mine, you'll always be mine. Nobody else will ever want a filthy little whore like you." He tried to scream, to tell her it wasn't true, it couldn't be true, but no noise came out._

_Her hands were everywhere, he couldn't escape. He couldn't breathe. She bit his left nipple drawing a scream from his lips. Hands moved lower and lower, touching his most private areas. Her evil cackle rang in his ears as she stroked him and two dry fingers were..._

It was early morning when Shikamaru woke to a terrifying cry echoing around him. It took him a few moments to realize the anguished cry was coming from him. His nightmare had seemed so real, as if she had been there in the cave. The woman was haunting him, stuck in his mind on repeat.

He tried to sit up but his body screamed in protest. "Kiba?" he called, realizing the warm body was missing from his side. He looked around, but the dog nin wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"KIBA!"

Shikamaru panicked at the loss of the Inuzuka, his protection and comfort. The dog nin had promised he would never leave him, but now he was gone. Under normal circumstances Shikamaru may have thought logically and realized the other teen was simply doing a sweep of the area, or needed to take a leak, but in his unstable and slightly broken mind, Kiba had abandoned him, and now he was alone.

"KIBA!"

He forced his body to sit, ignoring the pain coursing through his limbs. His body objected to the damaging movement as he stood, shaking violently as he struggled. Stumbling, his knee connected with the stone floor.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A few of the healing scars ripped open, but he ignored them and pushed off the ground, willing his body to move.

"KIBA!"

Making it just outside the cave entrance his body finally gave way, unable to function any longer under the strenuous activity forced upon it. Ridiculous ideas of them coming back for him ran through his mind as he plummeted to the ground.

He didn't want to be alone.

* * *

A noise in the woods had woken the dog nin about half an hour ago. He'd carefully detached himself from the clinging arms of his friend, making sure he didn't wake before he snuck out the entrance.

He carefully crept through the still and silent woods only to find the noise to be a couple of squirrels fighting over a stash of acorns. The dog nin chuckled to himself watching the entertaining spectacle, one he thought only happened in cartoons.

The still night air was pierced by a guttural scream emanating from the cave he had vacated not too long ago. "Shika," he breathed, dark slitted eyes widening in horror.

He ran, pushing his body to its limit. The terrified cries of his name echoing in his ears, making his blood run cold. He made it into the clearing to see the Nara fall, rushing forward to catch the nin just before he hit the ground. "Shika!"

"You promised you'd never leave," the Nara rasped out, panting hard from over exertion.

"I didn't leave," Kiba soothed, stroking the dark hair, and rocking the shivering body. "I'm still here."

"You were gone," the hysterical teen accused. "I was alone. My dreams... she was in my dreams." The Nara genius was sobbing uncontrollably, retreating into himself. "She was hurting me," he continued, talking to himself and forgetting the Inuzuka's presence. "Her hands we're everywhere. I couldn't move. I couldn't get away."

Pulling the shaking boy into his chest, Kiba whispered what he hoped were comforting words. As much as they had joked earlier that he was a better choice than most of their friends, Kiba was still clueless when dealing with another person during a psychological break down. "It was just a dream, she's not here. She's dead. I promise no one will ever hurt you like that again."

The sobbing stopped abruptly, and looking down Kiba realized Shikamaru had passed out from the pain. He closed his eyes, hugging the boy tightly as he inhaled the night air only to have his eyes shoot open. He could smell blood. "You stupid genius," he cursed, carefully placing the broken teen back on the floor of the cave. He dug through the pack, extracting the last of the clean bandages. "I sure hope help arrives soon."

He leaned against the wall and pulled the unconscious boy up to lean back against his chest. "Shika, don't ever scare me like that again," he chided uselessly. Pulling the blanket over them, he wrapped his arms around the thin teen, letting Shikamaru's soft breathing lull him to sleep. "Never again," he mumbled.

* * *

"Kiba-kun?"

The Inuzuka bolted upright, taking most of the blanket with him. Thankfully the sleeping boy beside him groaned and muttered something about being cold, but didn't wake.

"H-Hinata-chan!"

* * *

**Hows that for cuteness? Like Shika molesting what he thought was an unsuspecting Kiba? More where that came from, just you wait.**

**Hope you're all enjoying the rewrite, don't forget to check out my other works, they're actually better than this story.**

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